Best Text to Use in the First (Default) option in Drop-Down list?

Question

I know that questions should have definitive answers, but I'm legitimately curious to get some seasoned opinions on this question. I do not have much web development experience under my belt, but I'm building a page at the moment that makes use of a few drop-down lists (html <select>). I don't want the first (default) option to be an actual choice, because I want them to be forced to choose something from the list. What is the best text to use in this first option, do you think?

Right now I'm using "-Select-". Any other ideas?

Answer 1

-Select- is great....

Answer 2

I'm going to go ahead and overthink this:

Is nothing not a good choice? I guess it depends on where this dropdown is but an empty field is generally how it's done with other types of fields. It's not like you would put something in a text field like "--enter text here--". I think, in general, the same principal applies here.

That said, if the field has no label then you might want to put something in there just to make it clear without having to dropdown the list. In that case the text would reflect the type of content in the dropdown.

Answer 3

I personally don't like dashes and dots in the entry because they look untidy. On the other hand, they draw attention. A question of preference and philosphy.

Anyway, it has to be a clearly understandable call to action (= you need to click here, otherwise you won't be able to continue). My favourites in descending order:

• Click to select
• Select one
• Please select one

An empty field is o.k. only if the selection can stay empty and is not required for the form to be complete.

Answer 4

I would use "Select X" where x is the the type. "Select color" for example

Answer 5

No such thing as the best choice.

It really depends on your users and how well they will understand this.

Assuming english speaking, computer literate users, your suggestion is fine - it makes the point.